The Outcasts
by helterskelter3310
Summary: AU - Storybrooke is in shambles, taken over by crime. Except a fair few people who still hold on to the good. But there's something not quite right about them. Some call it being gifted, being cursed, others just call them freaks. Belle centric. Will feature most main characters.
1. Diner Mishap

Belle sat the little table in Granny's Diner, both hands wrapped around her mug of coffee. The windows were fogged up from steam but she wouldn't want to look outside anyway. Granny's was her safe place, the one clean spot inside a town gone to ruin. Storybrooke had succummed to crime and filth when she was little. Little enough she didn't even remember what it was like when it was a nice place to live.

Her clothes were well worn and her converse had a few holes in them but it was much nicer than the man in the booth a few feet away. Her little bookshop got her by, most people didn't even have that. Homelessness and employment were as rampant as disease.

Belle looked up as a the bell over the front door chimed. A boy came in who looked no older than 13. His curly black hair was a ruffled from the wind and his coat was a few sizes too big but he had a big smile on his face nonetheless. She couldn't help but smile, he seemed so happy and that was such a rare thing. She watched as the cheerful young boy order a bottle of pop from Granny, he was just chatting away like she was his best friend. When Granny walked over to another customer the boy turned to look at Belle. She looked back down, not wanting him to realize she'd been watching him. But next thing she knew he was sitting down in the booth opposite her.

"You're like me," he stated with confidence.

"What'd you mean?"

Instead of answering with words he reached out and touched one finger to her mug. The coffee inside it, which had still been steaming a little started to freeze. It started from where the boy touched it until Belle was able to turn her cup over and dump a frozen cylinder of coffee on the table.

"I'm afraid I can't turn coffee into ice."

"That's not what I meant. You have a gift, like me. I can just tell. Name's Bae." The boy stuck his hand out with another smile. Belle shook it.

"Belle."

"Well, Belle, you should meet my papa and his friends. They're like us."

"Freaks huh?" The man from the other table staggered over. "Freaks! Abomi-abom-mutants! Fuck you. You ruined my life! This whole town went down the shitter because of freaks like you!"

Belle would've just ignored him and walked out but he'd moved between her and the door. Even worse he'd moved within a foot of Bae.

"Fuckers!" the man shouted and pulled a gun out from his lower back. Belle didn't even wait for him to aim the gun she launched herself over the table pushed Bae to the ground and covered him just as the shots rang out. Three of them, two went into the floor and the third hit Belle in her lower back. She groaned at the pain and shut her eyes tight. She didn't move until she heard the man stagger-stomp away shouting about his victory over freaks. Belle rolled onto her back and Bae popped right up to his feet.

"Did he get you?! I think I'm okay," he was running his hands over his chest with a worried expression on his face.

"Yeah but I'll be fine, it only hurts for a bit." She got up and lifted her jacket and shirt to show Bae her back. Even though she couldn't see it she knew there'd be just a slight red mark.

"Whoa...you're invincible aren't you?!" He looked excited but Belle just shook her.

"I don't think I'd go that far. But let's just say this isn't my first time being shot."

The two of them left the diner. Belle was going to go back to her little apartment in the southern part of Storybrooke where he fiance waited. Instead she decided to walk with Bae, to keep him safe until he got home. She was surprised at how short of time it took for this boy to talk his way to her heart. He was so sweet and pure, and the city tended to crush people like that. He talked so much she barely got a word in. He lead her to what looked like it had originally been a school. The windows were all broken. The door was broken. The grass was dead and a ghostly playground sat off to the side a ways. As they walked across cracked pavement a man pushed the open.

He was much older than Belle and had long brown hair with a little gray mixed in. He leaned on a cane and stood in the doorway with a scowl on his face. As Bae and Belle neared that scowl became less pronounced. For someone who lived in an abandoned building he sure was dressed nice. It wasn't fancy but it wasn't what Belle expected.

"Bae, what did I tell you about dragging people home with you?"

"Papa she's like us. She can get shot and not die!"

"Well Bae I'm sure lots of people can do that."  
"No, I mean she didn't even bleed!"

This time Bae's father looked at Belle a little more closely. His brown eyes locked with her blue ones for what felt like an eternity to Belle. He was no longer scowling, if anything there seemed to be the ghost of a smile on his face.

"Why don't you come in, meet everyone."

"I really ought to be going-" Belle started to walk away. But the man kept speaking.

"You can't say you've never wanted to be around people who accept you." Belle stopped in her tracks. "There are people here who've dealt with this before. The hatred. The pain. The loneliness. Most of them don't even have any family. Before they came here they had no one to turn to." Belle turned back around to look at him. He was pleading with her to stay. He wanted her to stay. Even Gaston hardly wanted her around, until he got hungry or horny.

"Please." This time it was Bae giving her the puppy dog eyes. His father was much more stoic. "Just for a few minutes. They're cool, I swear."

"Okay, I'll come in but only for a bit my fiance is probably waiting for me." She hated using that lie but it got her out of so many things it was the first excuse she always used.

She followed the man and his son through the creaking doors into a rundown hallway. The walked a little ways into the building and as they walked Belle thought she could she shadows walking with them. He'd said there were others here but it was like every time she heard a noise no one was there. It was creepy enough that maybe it was haunted. The man stopped at a door, looked back at Belle then pulled it open.

The sight inside made Belle gasp. It wasn't run down at all. It had clearly originally been a gym of some sort but now it was like a bunker. The walls were padded with a black cushions. There were dummies set up in one corner. Mats covered most of the floor. A display of knifes, swords and guns stretched over half of one wall. There were a couple doors leading into other rooms and in the middle were tables and chairs. She barely even registered the people that were in there.


	2. First Impressions

"Oh good he's back." A woman with short black hair walked over to the trio and gave Bae a hug. She was the only one that approached.

"Guys, this is Belle." The man introduced her. She hadn't been this nervous since her first day of high school. She could feel everyone's eyes on her. No one else said anything, no one even moved for a few seconds. A few of them were even already glaring at her.

Then a man dropped from the ceiling. Startled, Belle stumbled backwards a bit. But he smiled at her, wide enough to show a few teeth. He stretched out his hand.

"Archie Hopper." She shook his hand, a little more relaxed that at least one person was friendly. He turned away from to address the group.

"She's safe."

As if his words were a spell the mood in the room changed. The short haired woman smiled at her as did a man with blondish hair that was standing next to her.

"Mary Margaret, but you can call me Snow. This is David." Snow seemed genuinely friendly. She wore a patched up light blue sweater and had something slung over her shoulder that Belle couldn't quite see. David was much taller than Snow. He wore a very faded work jacket with a pair of dusty jeans. He looked every bit like a construction worker of some sort but there hadn't been any construction in Storybrooke in years. They didn't even bother to demolish the old buildings. Just left them to decay.

The man named Graham stood up straight, shook her hand, and called her ma'am but had the saddest eyes of anyone she'd ever met. No matter how good he looked it was that sadness that stood out the most.

Mulan was dressed in what looked like hockey pads turned armor. She didn't smile. She kept her face serious, like Belle might be an imminent threat to her. Belle noticed Mulan's eyes kept glancing over to where a couple stood. Once introduced she knew said couple was Phillip and Aurora. Phillip looked at Aurora like no one else in the world existed. Aurora looked at him the same way but when she glanced at Mulan her look saddened.

Emma was next. She wore a blue leather jacket, jeans with holes and beat up converse. She smiled but there was suspicion in her eyes. She didn't trust Belle either but she would at least make an attempt to be friendly.

Next to Emma sat Regina also in a leather jacket but this one was black and much fancier than Emma's. Regina's had small metal spikes on the shoulders and multiple zippers up and down the front. Her nails were painted black and she had on very heavy amounts of eyeliner. Her black pants also looked like they could be leather. She didn't shake Belle's hand and her tone was less than enthusiastic.

Ruby and Victor sat together. Ruby had a wildness to her, whereas Victor seemed much more neat and tidy. Ruby's hair was streaked with bright red and her eyes were vibrant. She seemed excited to meet Belle. Victor seemed indifferent, almost cold. He wouldn't have even waved at her if Ruby hadn't elbowed him in the side.

She met a few others and the only one who barely even acknowledged her was a man named Jefferson. He stood leaning against the wall. Hidden in the shadows. All Belle could see distinctly was that he was wearing a vest with a chain from a pocket watch hanging out.

"And I'm Mr. Gold." Bae's father spoke up from behind her. "Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier."

"So," Emma started, "what can you do?"

"She invincible!" Bae exclaimed.

"Really?" Emma looked skeptical. Aurora and Ashley exchanged excited looks. David looked doubtful. But Belle sought out Mr. Gold. His face remained unreadable but he was watching her like everyone else waiting for a response. Then for the second time that day Belle felt her body jerk with the force of a close range bullet.

The bullet sank into her skin about halfway, right over her heart and stuck there. She pulled it out with her fingers and dropped it to the ground. Regina still had the handgun pointed at her. But unlike before her mouth was now open in shock.

"Holy shit, he's right."

"Why'd you do that?" Emma rounded on her.

"I had to test it didn't I?"

"And if Bae was wrong?"

"Well Snow could heal her just fine. Don't get your panties in a twist Swan."

"You know what-"

Belle decided to intervene before a fight broke out on her behalf.

"It's really no big deal, it's not the first time I've been shot."

Snow gasped and put her hand over heart. The others' reactions ranged from shocked to saddened. Except Mr. Gold's, he looked angry.

"Bae, how did you know what Belle could do?"

This time the boy didn't answer right away. He looked down and mumbled something.

"Bae," his father didn't yell but Belle could feel his anger just radiating off him.

"I revealed my gift in public-"

"Bae!"

"and some drunk guy tried to shoot me."

"What!" The whole building shook. Swords fell off the walls, she heard a window shatter somewhere and Regina was knocked off the table she'd been sitting on the edge of.

"But Belle saved me papa! She shielded me! I'm fine." The shaking stopped, his anger cooled in a split second.

"See look, no holes." Bae turned in a circle but his father wasn't looking at him anymore. He was looking at Belle.

"Why?"

"It seemed like the right thing to do. I didn't want him to get hurt." Even Belle herself didn't know why she did it. She hadn't thought about it at the time, it was just instinct. That small part of her that could be brave from time to time.

"Ruby I though you said your Granny's was a safe place," David asked.

"It is! I don't know how that slipped past her. She normally watches people like a hawk." Belle hadn't noticed early but she was pretty sure she'd seen fangs when Ruby spoke.

"Well, now that we know what Belle can do it's only fair that she sees a little of what we can do," David said as he stepped in to the middle of the circle they'd formed. Some were sitting on chairs, some on tables and other just stood. Bae sat on the floor next to Ruby.

"I think she has somewhere she needs to be, I did say she only had to come in for a few minutes. Didn't you say your husband was waiting for you?" Mr. Gold said as David started to raise his arm.

"He's just a fiance but yes. I really need to be going."

"Aw she's gonna miss out on all the fun," the man named Jefferson spoke up for the first time. He'd been lurking in the shadows outside of their circle the whole time. She looked at him, confused, but he just smirked at her like he knew something she didn't. Maybe he did. maybe he didn't. Right now Belle's head was spinning with all that she'd learned.


	3. Down The Rabbit Hole

Belle spent the next three days just like she'd spent every other day for the past year. She woke up, showered, dressed and made breakfast for Gaston then walked to her bookshop. She made no eye contact with anyone on the walk and made sure she never slowed her pace. Then she spent all day sorting books by author and would help the few customers that came by. The only thing different was when she didn't have customers and when she tried to sleep at night all she could think about was those people she'd met, especially Mr. Gold and Bae. She got chills every time she thought of that look Jefferson gave her and not the good kind.

What could the others be able to do? Were they overly thick skinned like her? Could they read minds? Was that even possible? Did they live there or did they just meet up there? And what was with all those weapons on the wall?

Belle's intense curiosity kept her up and night. She just had to know but she didn't know how to get in contact with any of them. She could start hanging around Granny's all the time and hope Bae showed up again. She'd feel a little creepy but it might be worth a shot, especially if Granny and Ruby were related.

She was just going through her Agatha Christie collection when the door opened and she abandoned her plan all together.

Mr. Gold limped into the little store his cane making a loud thunk against the wooden floor. Belle almost dropped the stack of books she was holding.

"Belle?"

"Just a second," she put the books and the ground and quickly made her way over to him, trying and failing to hide her enthusiasm. She couldn't help the smile on her face, even if she couldn't quite explain it but it was there. She even got a smile in return. Though he was much quicker to hide his after she'd seen it.

"I was just stopping by to see how you were doing."

"Good! I mean as good as ever."

"I was also wondering if maybe you wanted to get lunch?"

"Of course! When?"

"Well now if you've got time?"

Even if she had been busy she still would have gone with him. Together they started walking down the street. Belle was more than a little anxious. The streets weren't safe. Thieves lurked in every alley and in the shadows themselves it felt like. Belle had once seen a man beaten down in the middle of the sidewalk one morning. They hadn't even taken anything from him. Belle's mother had been killed by a group of people in a similar manner.

Mr. Gold acted as though he was unaware of the potential danger walking along at a leisurely pace.

"You're awfully twitchy outside aren't you?" he teased.

"It's not exactly my favorite place to be."

"You're in no danger dearie. If a bullet can't stop you I doubt any of these low-lives would even stand a chance."

"They do more than just kill you know."

"I know," this time the teasing was gone. His tone cold. Belle looked over at him, but his face was unreadable.

"Here we are," he said, his tone lighter. He stopped outside of a grimy looking building. The windows were so dirty Belle could barely even see through them. The beaten old sign above the door read The Rabbit Hole.

"It's not exactly where I'd take a lady such as you but the others wanted to meet up somewhere besides Granny's." He almost sounded embarrassed and a little disgusted too.

The Rabbit Hole was dimly lit. Belle wasn't entirely sure if it was on purpose or if the lights were just that dirty. The neon sign above the bar was only half lit and the bartender was cleaning the glasses with a rag that desperately needed washed itself. The table closest to the door was broke in half and a hole the size of a fist was right above it.

"Cheerful place," she whispered to herself but Mr. Gold must've heard he because he chuckled lowly as he lead her to a back room. The walked past a handful of customers. Some as dirty looking as the bar itself.

Back in the corner David and Mary Margaret sat at a booth with Ruby sitting across from them. Ruby had a couple empty glasses near her but it looked like the other two had barely even touched theirs. Not that Belle blamed them.

"Ah Belle, he did find you." Mary Margaret beamed at Belle who couldn't help but return it.

"Have I ever failed you before?" Mr. Gold guided Belle into the spot next to Ruby and he slid in next to her.

"We're sorry for dragging you out here but we wanted to talk," Mary Margaret spoke so softly Belle had to lean over the table so she could hear her better. Her serious tone frightened Belle a little.

"We would like to know some more about you." David was a little less serious than his other half. He also spoke at a more normal volume.

"Well I run a bookstore uptown. My favorite color is blue. I like rock mu-."

"How long have you known what you are?" David interrupted.

"High School, I think."

"Are you embarrassed by it?" Ruby this time.

"I-I don't think so."

"Would you been interested in some," Mary Margaret waved her hands around, trying to find the words she wanted, "skill sharpening?"

"Skill sharpening?"

"Well training sounded too-"

"Comic book?" Ruby offered.

"Cheesy?" David suggested.

"Well it just didn't sound right. We're sort of experts in 'skill sharpening' and we were wondering if you'd like to join us. Plus we could always use more friends. There aren't many people we can be ourselves around." She spoke quickly.

"Well, yes. But why?"

None of them answered. Mary Margaret fidgeted in her seat. Mr. Gold was tracing patterns on the table with his finger. Ruby finally answered.

"We're trying to clear the shitheads out of the city."

This time it was Belle who was speechless.

"We're not like superheros or any of that crap," she continued. "We're just tired of it all. Tired of being scared, tired of our friends and family being hurt or killed just trying to go to work." Ruby's eyes watered up as she spoke. "We want it back the way it was. And what's the fucking point of being special if you can't do anything with it." She slammed her glass down. Making everyone else jump.

Belle thought back to her mother. What she remembered most vividly was how bright her smile had been. How beautiful she'd been, radiant even. Long dark hair and blue eyes like Belle. Then the man that had stopped them, making them easy targets for the others. He had messy short black hair, that fell into his bluish eyes. He'd been wearing a long leather jacket with metal studs embroidered along the front. She'd been about eye level with his hand and had seen a very odd skull ring he wore. It had rubies in the eye holes and cross bones below it. She had never seen his other hand the sleeve of the coat covered it.

"I think that's the best idea I've heard in a long time." Belle answered softly. "I want to help."


	4. A Bit of Training

"Welcome back to our gym, Belle." Ruby gestured grandly as though showing Belle the White House. Her playful smirk giving away her sarcasm.

It had been only a day of waiting but Belle had been so excited about this she'd hardly been able to contain herself. Gaston had been unbearable the night before, reminded her of why she needed a little adventure in her life.

"Where is everybody?" Belle asked. There weren't as many people here as last time. Thankfully she didn't see Jefferson lurking about.

"Oh they come and go as they please for the most part," Mary Margaret came up next to the two ladies. She was in black sweatpants and a dark gray hoodie. "I hope you're ready Belle."

"I am."

"Well then I guess we can start now." The words had scarcely left Mary Margaret's mouth when Regina kicked Belle's legs out from under her.

"C'mon get up!" Regina backed up towards the middle of the room, in a defensive stance and never taking her eyes off Belle.

Belle took the hint and slowly got up off the ground. She mimicked Regina's stance, not really knowing what else to do. But then the woman came at her again. She swung her fist at Belle's head. Belle dodged the first but ended up getting hit squarely in the jaw by the second and then kicked hard in the stomach. She doubled over and Regina brought her knee to Belle's face, breaking her nose, then shoved her to the ground.

Belle stayed on the ground for a second watching the blood drip onto the black mat. It seemed her abilities only stretched to serious damage and not the pain or hand to hand combat. She hear Mary Margaret scolding Regina, something about she was supposed to go easy.

But Belle pushed herself up off the mat, wiped some of the blood onto the sleeve of her shirt.

"I can handle it."

Regina smiled a very sinister looking smile clearing enjoying herself. She ran at Belle swinging but this time she was ready. She dodged a punch and sent one back. Regina ducked it but it gave Belle a little bit of much needed momentum. Her second punch missed too but she quickly followed it with a third that found it's mark. Regina just smiled wider. She used her arm to block Belle's next punch and grabbed her arm. With a strength Belle was not expecting Regina used her grip on Belle's arm to flip her over and slam her on her back on the mat.

"You'll get there." Regina sauntered over to where Emma was sitting and watching the fight. David was sitting with her eating popcorn. "Everybody does eventually."

Mary Margaret kneeled next to Belle and put her hands on either side of her face. Belle intially tried to squirm away but then there was a strange warmness on her face. Most of it was on her nose but she felt it on her stomach too.

"All better," the other woman said standing up. Belle felt her nose. It definitely wasn't broken anymore. She didn't even hurt as she stood up. "I'm curious to see at what point your abilty kicks in. Obviously you can get hurt but yet that bullet barely left a mark."

"Maybe it was a fluke." Emma offered from her spot with David and Regina.

"I don't it was," Mary Margaret was looking Belle over. "I wonder..."

She went over to the wall of weapons. Belle stayed in her spot. Was she going to test different guns on her to see if any would kill her?

But much to Belle's surprise Mary Margaret was instead digging around in a box sitting against the wall. She pulled out a rather lengthy hunting knife.

"David I can't do it." She held the knife out to him. He wiped his hands on his jeans then grabbed the knife and walked over to Belle.

"Hold out your arm please."

"Why?"

"I'm just going to cut a little slice into it to see if your body will let me."

Belle didn't like it but she did it anyway. He held her arm gently and placed the knife over her forearm. Belle looked away. She saw his arm move, and felt a pressure across her arm but no pain.

"Did she just spark?!" Regina exclaimed. Belle looked back at her arm, there was no mark and the other three were looking at each other, stunned.

"Do it again!" Regina commanded and David did as he was told. This time Belle saw what they had seen the first time. Where the knife met her skin there were sparks and it looked like for a split second her skin had turned silver where the knife touched it. Belle suddenly felt self-conscious. She was even weirder than them. Other than Mary Margaret she hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary about the others. Except Archie's little ceiling to floor trick. Once again she was an outcast.

"What. The. Fuck. It didn't do that when I shot her did it?"

"I didn't think so."

"You're just full of surprises dearie." Mr. Gold had at some point come into the room and was looking at Belle with a small smile. Seeing him helped her breathe. That nervousness that had started to overtake her subsided.

"She's probably able to do that only if she's prepared for it. If I had to guess." He limped over to where the others were. Belle heard heavy and fast footsteps coming towards the gym.

"They're attacking the park!" Victor came running into the room, out of breath and pointing frantically at the way he'd just come.

"Who?"

"What?!"

"The park?"

"Some guys. In red. At the park. Like us." He panted, still trying to catch his breath.

David ran over to the middle of the room and flipped a table over so he could kneel on the ground. He opened a small trap door and started pulling clothes out. Everything seemed to be black with little accents of color. He tossed some to Mary Margaret and to Emma. Then he dug back down and pulled out some more this time tossing it to Belle.

"Put it on. Quick. It's just temporary until we can get you an actual outfit like ours." It was just black zip up hoodie, a black pair of jeans and black piece of fabric with eye holes. Seriously?

"You don't them to know who you are do you?" Emma said as her and the others started changing. Gold had vanished but the others were all changing so Belle followed along.


	5. Wow is right

Belle felt silly as she followed them down the hall further into the building. Of course at the same time the others looked fairly good. They were dressed in semi-matching black leather outfits. It was a zip up jacket and pants. Emma's had large holes in the back. Regina's was left unzipped lower cut in the front than others, showing more cleavage. All of them had the mask that Belle had.

The made a zig zag pattern further into the building until they got a make shift hangar. Inside was a black jet. Belle didn't know anything about planes but this one definitely looked nice. It was very sleek. She followed the others up a set of stairs into the plane.

Archie and Mr. Gold sat up front to pilot the plane. Victor, Ruby, Aurora, Mulan, Graham, and August were all sitting in seats in the middle of the jet. Belle sat in the seat next to Ruby who looked excited.

"You're gonna wanna fasten your seat belt. Archie flies this thing like a crazy person."

"I heard that!"

Belle smiled a little but strapped herself in at the same time. August wasn't strapped in, he leaned back in his seat like it was a recliner. Mulan had what looked like swords crossed behind her back and was putting smaller knives into sheaths on her arms. Graham looked like he was going to be sick.

There was a deep rumbling noise and then the jet was slowly rising. It rose straight out of the building, Belle tried to look out the windows to see how they'd done that but then they were off and Ruby's joke turned out to be very accurate. The flew over the city, even from high up the place looked unclean, and the smog was much more visible.

"Ut-oh. Guys we've got some turbulence." Archie said worriedly.

Belle looked out the front window just in time to see multiple tornados coming down out of the sky. Then the jet jerked to the left and rolled onto it's side sending August crashing into the wall. Belle couldn't see through her hair but she felt the plane right itself and then take a steep dive towards the ground.

"David! Help me out here!" Archie flipped the plane onto it's other side. Belle heard the tell tale thud as August hit the other side.

All of the sudden the plane was back in a normal position and the tornados were gone. Belle pushed her hair back out of her eyes. David was standing upfront with Gold and Archie. He turned around and pointed at Emma.

"You're up first. We'll be right behind you."

Emma got up and crossed over to stand across from the door. She cracked her knuckles and shook herself a little. She closed her eyes and screwed up her face as if in pain. She leaned down a little, getting in a runner's stance. What Belle saw then disturbed her.

The holes in the back of Emma's jacket showed her movement in her back. Her skin stretched out and it looked like her bones her moving around and rearranging themselves. No wonder she looked pained.

"Ready?" David had a hold of them door handle. Emma didn't speak but just nodded. He slid the door open and Emma took a running jump right out the door. Belle was shocked but she was the only one. Archie immediately took the jet into a steep dive to get the rest of them close to the ground. Belle was still watching out the door as they descended and saw something with huge white wings fly by them.

Once the plane was close enough to the ground everybody else scrambled out to see the chaos reigning over the park. Archie flew off again. Several of the surrounding buildings were on fire, gunshots, flashes of light, and people were everywhere. Bodies lay every few feet. She only had a few seconds to take everything in before something large and on fire was launched at the group.

They scattered and Belle followed Ruby, Aurora and ran across the singed grass to where a whole bunch of the men in red were taking down civilians on the left side of the park. Belle and Mulan ran around a merry-go-round but Aurora ran straight through it as if it hadn't even been there. Belle reached one of the men first.

She punched him in the face as hard as she could. He conveniently hadn't seen her coming until the last second. As he put his hand to his face she was able to kick him in the stomach and then did Regina's trick of kneeing him in the face. She must've done it right because the man was knocked out.

A bullet ripped through the air by her ear. Until then she hadn't even realized she was weaponless. The others hadn't really had any except-

"Belle! Catch!" Mulan tossed a knife the size of her arm at Belle. Who caught it awkwardly trying not to grab it by the blade.

Another man lunged at her. She stuck the knife out and he ran right into it. She felt it go right through him. The skin, the muscle and then the very warm liquid ran over her hand. Too warm, much too warm. She pulled it out quick but he fell to the ground holding his stomach in agony. She felt a little sick because of what she'd done. The dark red of his blood barely showed up against the red of his t-shirt.

A man came up from behind her and wrapped his arm around her neck. She jabbed her knife behind her hoping his head would be there but got nothing but air. She couldn't see it out of the corner of her eye either. No head? Then she realized she couldn't see his arm either.

She was starting to see spots when her and her attacker were hit hard by something large and they were smashed to the ground. He let go of her neck she immediately scrambled to her feet and watched as he came back into view again.

What had hit them was now snarling at the man who had been knocked unconscious. It was a wolf, sort of. It was bigger than a wolf and stood on two legs. It was a dark brown and had what looked like red stripes.

Wait, red stripes? Ruby? Belle didn't get a chance to test her theory as she was once again launched into the air, by herself this time. Someone had grabbed her by the neck and just thrown her. She flew through a brick wall. Landing on her back in rubble and more of it fell on top of her. It would've killed a normal person. She just hurt, bad. She definitely heard a crack when she landed and there was a sharp, intense pain in her arm. She tried to move but her vision swam and she layed back down. Sending up a little puff of powder from crumbled brick and mortar.

A man was walking towards her. He was dressed differently than the others. He had a long black leather jacket on. His hair was stylish but messy at the same time. He looked as though he'd walked out off of a runway for rockers, not out of a park full of fighting.

He had a smirk on his face as he closed in.

"I'm must say, I'm surprised you're still alive. But no matter, it won't last." He knelt by Belle. She couldn't move from a mix of the pain and how much of the wall was now laying on top of her. He gently pushed some of her hair out of her eyes and that's when she saw it. The ring. _The_ ring. It was exactly how she remembered it. The rubies. The crossbones. She looked into his eyes. He hadn't aged at all since then. She could hear her mother's screams in her ears and was about ready to get the revenge she desperately wanted when the man was blasted with something white that knocked him over.

"What the fuck is this shit?!" Belle looked towards the way it had came from and her jaw dropped. Sure enough, and with his own little mask, Bae was standing there with his hands outstretched in front of him.

"Back off!" He shouted bravely. The man cracked his neck and advanced toward Bae menacingly.

""No!" Belle flung the debris off. Bae was shooting little spurts of ice at the man but it wasn't slowing him down, if anything it was irritating him more. Belle ran as fast as she could towards Bae. She felt something weird happen. There was a coldness. It wasn't from Bae's ice. It started at her feet and in a split second it covered her entire body and she could see clearer than she had all her life.

She got there just in time and stood in front of Bae just as the man swung a punch at where Bae had been but there was a thud, and a ding type noise of something solid hitting something metal. The man yelled out in pain and cradled his hand towards his torso. Or he tried too since his other hand was hook instead of a hand.

He looked back at Belle alarmed, then ran off too fast for Belle to even follow. She looked back at Bae, he stared up at her in amazement.

"Wow."

"Wow?" Belle asked.

"Wow's right dearie." Gold was standing at the hole in the wall Belle had crashed through. He still had a cane but he wasn't using it walk he was just holding onto it. His outfit was different from the others. He had a long black leather jacket over a dark dress shirt and two straps went across his torso in an X pattern. He too had on dark jeans but he had boots that went up to his knees. He took was looking at her in amazement.

"Wow is very right."


	6. The Juggernaut

"How did you do that?" They were all black at the gym. Mary Margaret was going around as fast as she could healing injuries, trying to get to the worst ones first. Belle was sitting on a table leaning on Mr. Gold's shoulder. She was too tired and too sore to care if she was invading his space or not. It felt good. He felt good.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. Emma still had her wings out and was gently trying to get feathers under control. Ruby was wrapped in a towel. Whatever clothes she had on when she shifted got torn to shreds. Mulan was dabbing a wet rag against Aurora's head.

"I wish I did. I'm not even sure what it was I did. Let alone how." David started causing a fuss as Mary Margaret had to hold him down so she could heal him. Regina's sleeved was singed off, made all the more ironic by the fact that she held a cigarette in that hand. Bae was passed out in a sleeping bag on the next table over from Gold and Belle.

"I think you turned yourself into a shield. Essentially."

"A shield."

"Dearie," he turned a little so he could look into her eyes, "you looked like you were sculpted from metal. Your whole body was covered with it, or at least what wasn't covered by clothes. Hook is much stronger than your average person. Did you even feel him hit you?"

"Barely. I heard it though." Something else in his statement caught her attention. "That's his name? Hook?"

Gold just nodded.

"He, uh," she started. The words caught in her throat. He started gently stroking her hair. Running his hand down her back in a soothing manner. Belle shuddered a little. She closed her eyes, it felt good but she had to tell him about her mother.

"He killed, he killed my mother," she could feel the tears start to build up in her eyes. "I saw it. Saw him," she managed to get out. She tried to hold back the tears, just like she'd done for years. But this time was different than any other. This time she was sitting with a man, who was not Gaston and cared about her, instead of being by herself. Unlike what Gaston would've done Gold wrapped his arms around Belle and kissed the top of her head.

This broke Belle's resolve completely. She didn't just cry she sobbed into his chest as he held her and rubbed her back. Gently whispering things to her that she couldn't understand, his accent thicker than normal. It wasn't long before Belle was asleep in his arms.

She woke up much later and on the floor. She was curled up in a sleeping bag. It was dark but she could tell she was still in the gym but for once it was near silent. She shot up. She could hear little electronic sounds. Searching for the source she found Bae sitting about 15 feet away playing a little handheld game.

"Oh good you're awake. I was beginning to worry." Mr. Gold limped over to where she sat, with a little difficulty he got down on the floor too. He handed her a bottle of water.

"How come you didn't need the cane at the park?"

"A healthy dose of pain pills and I reserve a bit of my gift for making my leg work right again."

She looked at him. The moonlight shone down on his face making his eyes shine. She could get lost in them. His hair a little messy like he'd been asleep too. It looked incredibly soft. She hadn't even realized she been moving closer until her face was almost touching his. He closed the distance and it was the most amazing kiss she'd ever experienced. It was gentle but there was need to it. It was perfect. She deepened it a little and he pulled her onto his lap. To her embarrassment she squeaked a little, surprised by his strength but he just smiled.

"Ewwww." Bae had finally looked up from his game.

"You were supposed to be in bed an hour ago, remember?"

Bae groaned but got up and dragged his feet all the way to another sleeping bag a bit further away.

When Belle looked around she saw that a few of the others were here as well but were asleep.

"A bunch of them were too worried about each other to leave," Gold answered her unasked question. "A few of them live here."

She looked back down into his eyes. She couldn't help but wonder if "a few" included him and his son. She stroked the side of his face with her hand.

"Will you lay with me? I don't really want to be by myself tonight."

"Anything for you sweetheart."

Gold waved his hand in a circle and a few blankets soared through the air into his hand. He smiled but didn't say anything. He situated himself so that he was laying behind her. She put her back up to his torso.

"I'm not sure your fiance would approve of this," he said as he wrapped his arm around her. She snuggled in closer to him.

"Gaston probably hasn't even noticed I'm gone."

That night Belle got the best sleep she'd ever had. She didn't want to leave but Gold had brought up a good point the night before. Gaston. She had to deal with that situation first.

She walked back to her apartment. It was a long walk and she still walked quickly and kept her head down. It was just habit. She wasn't as scared as she used to be. Now she was just worried about what she was going to say to Gaston when she got there.

She wanted to just be honest with him, tell him she'd found someone else. Remind him that neither one of them was particularly happy. But her prepared speal was cut short as soon as she entered the apartment.

He was sitting in the living room in his recliner, facing the door, clearly waiting for her. His brow furrowed when he saw her and he crossed his arms.

"Well, I would've never believed it, but this confirms it."

"Gaston-"

"I can't believe you!" He stood up and strode over to her.

"I'm so sorry Gaston."

"You joined those_ freaks!_"

"I-What?"

He turned away from her and ran his hand through his hair.

"Gold's band of merry little _mutants_." Belle was stunned. Partially because this was not where she was expecting the conversation and partially because he knew Gold.

"Do you have any idea what those people are like? Who they really are?"

"Well yeah."

"I don't mean what 'special powers' they have," he spat clearly disgusted. "I mean who they are, in real life."

Belle stayed silent, truth was she didn't know them very well. In fact she barely knew them at all.

"That's what I thought. They tried to recruit me a couple years ago and I did the smart thing. Instead of running to them with open arms I did my research." Well now Belle just felt like a fool. That was exactly what she'd done. She trusted them, even though she had no reason to.

"For example do you know what that Emma Swan character does for a living?"

"No."

"She's a thief," there was a gleam in his eye as Belle tried to hide her disappointment. He was enjoying popping her bubble.

"She breaks into people's houses, steals artwork and electronics. She's even stolen cars but each time they try to convict her she either vanishes or the jury gets bought out. One time the jail spontaneously caught on fire!"

"And then there's Ruby Lucas. She's a fucking hooker. I've seen it. My buddy Dylan paid her for her services once. Said she liked it rough and was a big fan of handcuffs." Belle sat down at the kitchen table. She was trying not to let this information tarnish her views of these people, her friends.

"Regina Mills was the one who burnt down city hall after they wouldn't let her run for mayor because she's a sociopath. She burnt down the south side park a few years ago. A lot of people died in that fire, Belle!" She just stared at the floor as he continued his rant. "She blew up a police cruiser. For fun."

"Victor Whale has been kicked out of every bar in the city and supposed poisoned one of the owners."

"And then there's mysterious Mr. Gold." Belle's head snapped up. That malicious gleam was still in his eyes, if anything it was more intense now.

"Even the mob bosses won't mess with him. He scares the unscarable. He beat one of them so bad they were in a coma for 6 months. And he killed his own wife." Had she not been so careful to guard her reactions her jaw would've dropped. It wasn't possible.

"Nobody knows what happened to their son. No one's seen him since he was about four. Think his name was Ben, or Bale or something like that." This time Belle had the upper hand. She knew exactly where Bae was and how he was doing.

"He probably killed him too."

"I'm sure most of that is just hearsay."

"You're just setting yourself up to be hurt."

"Since when do you care!?" Belle couldn't help but be a little mad. How dare he insult her new friends. How dare he suddenly care about her feelings now, he never had before.

"I've always cared!"

"Bullshit."  
"It's those people! They're tearing us apart."

"We already were apart, Gaston!"

Gaston cracked his neck, practically snarling at Belle. She'd seen him angry before but this was well beyond what she'd seen. He was fuming, the vein in his neck started to bulge out.

"It's me or them."

Belle sighed, go figure he'd give an ultimatum.

"Them," Belle answered with confidence.

"You leave me no choice then," he backed up towards the far wall in the room. "You know what a juggernaut is right little miss reads too much."

"An unstoppable force?" She was confused as to where he was going with this.

He smiled, "Yep, ever been hit by one?"

It was just then that something sunk in to Belle. They'd tried to recruit him, which meant that he had an ability too. Shit.

Belle turned and ran out of the apartment not bothering to close the door. If he really was what he'd implied then it wouldn't matter anyway.

There was a smashing noise behind her and she turned to find Gaston had crashed through the wall of their apartment out into the hallway totally unscathed. He arched his path so that he was now barreling down on Belle. She turned into the stairwell. She got down one flight before he ran straight over the rail and jumped down to the floor below her. She'd been pretty lucky with her abilities up till now, might as well test another scenario.

She hopped up and over the railing to jump down four stories to the always empty back lobby. She landed hard on her feet and it hurt but she didn't break anything and that was what mattered. She hobbled slightly as she took off but after a few steps she was back to normal. She felt the floor shake as he followed her example. The back door was locked. Dead end. A really dead end.

But an arm appeared through the door and grabbed her by her coat and pulled her through the door. She was swung to the side away from the door and pushed into a car.

"Floor it Phillip!" Aurora yelled as she shoved Belle into the backseat of a very nice car. Aurora had barely got in the vehicle as it took off and Gaston crashed through the door of the apartment building. He didn't chase the car but Belle had a nasty suspicion he'd be back for her eventually.

"How'd you guys know where I was?" Belle asked, finally able to relax.

"Gold has us follow you. At a discreet distance of course." Phillip answered. He was driving and Mulan was sitting in the front seat, swords and all.

"He doesn't trust Gaston. Never did."  
"He offered him a spot with you guys though."

"Only because he didn't want Cora to get her hands on him. He's an ass but he's valuable and also dangerous for anyone who opposes him." Aurora answered her this time.

"No kidding?" Belle's remark earned a smile from Aurora. "You think there's an open sleeping bag at the gym? I'm out a place to live."

"There's always going to be a sleeping bag for you." Aurora smiled kindly.

"If not I'm sure Gold would share his."

"Phillip!"

Belle snorted. He did have a point.


	7. No More Fooling Around

"What's that?"

"Its a TV, what's it look like?"

"Well I know that but where did you get it?"

"Well..."

Belle smiled, Emma had 'found' a tv and was trying to hook it up in their gym. Mary Margaret wasn't fooled but there wasn't anything she could do about it now.

She'd been living at the gym for almost a week. She borrowed clothes from Ruby and got beat up by Regina in "training" almost everyday. It amazed her, for the first time in her life she was homeless, and yet it was the happiest she'd ever been. She had friends, people who actually cared about her and she cared about them. Ruby talked non-stop when it was just the two of them. She'd loved the book store, even helped Belle out with organizing. David showed her a few self-defense moves and oddly enough how to be a better cook. He was the best at cooking out of everyone else. Not at all what Belle was expecting. Jefferson still creeped her out but he was rarely ever around and nobody really knew what he was up to most of the time.

Then there was Gold. She still got butterflies around him even though she'd never phrase it like that out loud. She was too old for that, but he did make her feel like the giggly little school girl. The way he looked at her, like she was the only thing he saw, just thinking of it made her smile. The way he smiled for her was different than how he smiled at the others, it was kinder and there was no teasing or insults that followed after.

Mary Margaret had told her that before she'd shown up he'd hardly ever been around but now he was there every evening. They tried to keep their relationship private but that had failed pretty miserably. It didn't help that Bae told everyone he could that his dad and Belle were dating.

"Hey, you. Granny's?" Ruby, grinning ear to ear, jumped up on the table and then plopped herself down next to Belle. Belle rolled her eyes but agreed to go anyway. She couldn't help herself, Ruby was just one of those people she couldn't say no to.

Ruby kept up the light-hearted chatting on their walk but it wasn't like usual. Her eyes didn't light up they do when she'd excited. She also didn't talk as fast.

"Ruby?"

"Yeah."

"If something's bothering you-"

"Victor won't kiss me."

"What?" Not exactly what she'd been expecting.

"He says 'I can't'" Ruby scowled and deepened her voice trying to impersonate Victor.  
"Oh my God" Ruby stopped in her tracks and grabbed Belle's arm.

"He's gay. Isn't he?"  
"Ruby, I have no idea."

"Shit. All the good ones are gay." Belle didn't know what to say. She didn't spend much time around Victor. He normally stood about as far away from her, or anyone else as possible. The only person she'd seen him get within a few feet of was Ruby. She'd only heard him speak once or twice. He wouldn't even keep eye contact. He did with Ruby though. Only Ruby.

"He's not gay. He seems to really like you." Belle tried to comfort her friend.  
"They all seem to like me."

The two women were rounding the corner to Granny's when Belle grabbed Ruby's arm and pulled her back against the building, out of sight of the diner.

"What the fuck, Belle?"

"Didn't you see those guys outside the door?"

"What? No!"

Ruby just barely poked her head past the edge of the building they were hiding behind. Three guys were standing outside Granny's diner. One was huge, well over 6 feet tall, covered in tattoos and overly muscled. One was tall and lanky with long greasy hair. The other was average looking, well he would have been if his skin hadn't been a pale green. Ruby turned back to Belle.

"That one dude's green!" She giggled. Belle smacked her arm.

"Hey!"

"Shh! He's probably green because he's like us." She whispered urgently.  
"Why are you whispering?" Ruby lowered her voice too.

"They might be able to hear us."

"Yes, they might." The green skinned man was standing behind Ruby who jumped a little and immediately turned to face him.

"I have a skin condition. I'm sorta sensitive about it ya know."

"I don't blame you." Ruby gave the man a sympathetic look but it infuriated him.

Belle saw a glimmer in the man's eye and ducked out of the way pulling Ruby down with her as his fist swung out where her head had been a split second before. Ruby snarled at him, her eyes turned amber color and no longer resembled human eyes. She lunged at him and snagged his shoulders pushing him to the ground but he used that momentum to fling her off of him with his legs. Ruby smacked up against a parked car setting off the alarm. The green man hopped back up, his movements graceful like a gymnastic. Belle crouched down a little and tackled him like she'd seen linebackers do on TV. Ruby was back up now but by now the larger man had come over and she was preoccupied with him and Belle was left to deal with the green one by herself.

She had him pinned to the ground but he smiled and spat in her face. It burned like acid and it covered her eyes and nose. She frantically tried to claw it off but it only smeared it around making the pain worse.

"We're leaving. Now." This voice she was certain didn't belong to the green man and judging by the grunts she heard from Ruby's sparring partner it wasn't his voice either. That just left the greasy haired man who hadn't joined in on the fight. She still couldn't see and was getting very frustrated with it. She heard a strange popping noise and suddenly the fighting stopped. All she could her was her own breathing and then-

"COWARDS!"

"Ruby!" Belle yelled partially to make her stop and partially because she was pissed off that the stuff wouldn't come and she needed help.

"Oh, shit! What is that stuff?"

"I don't know he spat it on me!"  
"Gross!"

Belle felt Ruby's warmer than natural hands gently pry some of it off. She could see a little bit and with a few more swipes she could see completely but her eyes still burned a bit and she was felt humiliated.

On the way back to the gym Ruby told her she'd managed to claw out one of the big guy's eyes and left some good gouges in his arm. All Belle had done was tackle a guy who hadn't even been paying attention to her. All it had taken was some acid spit to beat her. She was supposed to be getting better. She'd reached the end of her rope. She was tired of being teased by Regina, tired of needing saving all the time and tired of her eyes watering


End file.
